Romulo Olazo and Ramon Orlina: Virtuosos of light

MANILA, Philippines - It was bound to happen. It had to happen. Finally, it has happened: the pairing of the works of Ramon Orlina and Romulo G. Olazo. Tantalizing was the concept of bringing together the works of these two artists, a sculptor and a painter, respectively working in the two-and-three-dimensional, and whose life works have been devoted to the pursuit of light. In this single exhibition, what is made more luminous is the exhilarating journey of two artists, at the peak of their artistic powers, traveling along the same path, generating light from disparate materials and dimensions. Released from the confines of physically, light emerges as an act of spiritual and emotional illumination.

Sustained through over four decades, Olazo’s masterworks are collectively titled “Diaphanous.” From the Greek root word “diapanes,” meaning “to show through,” the “Diaphanous” works are characterized by an ethereal quality, an otherworldly shimmer. An enduring fascination with light engendered the exuberant unfolding of forms. By interspersing layer upon layer of a permutation of shapes, through which sheaths of dark and light hues overlap, Olazo generates densities of light, suggestive of deep space.

“Michael’s Martial Arts,” “Untitled (Carved Lime Green Crystal),” “Great Expectation,” and “Untitled (Carved Purple Crystal)” by Ramon Orlina

Lending vigor and vitality to the long-running “Diaphanous” series are the intervals of representational forms that animate the pictorial space, such as fruit-shapes, floral forms, and Mother and Child. As though filtered through a sieve, these images, with the concentrated shapeliness of a silhouette, seem framed by their sharply-defined contours.

The concept of light brimming from a three-dimensional form was the inspired artistry of Ramon Orlina. In the sculptor’s hand, irregularly-shaped blocks of glass are transformed, through the intervention of a self-improvised technique and sheer human patience, into objects of radiance and vibrance, releasing crystalline light, reflected and refracted, via the geometrical faceting of surface and the internal hollowing of space.

Viewed from a multiplicity of angles, the glass sculptures elicit surprise at every turn. Due to their high iron content, most of Orlina’s glass sculptures glisten with a greenish hue; other works, however, are suffused with the compelling allure of amber, cobalt blue, bronze, black, and clear crystal. Furthermore, matte-and-gloss effect is achieve through the contrast between shiny and frosted surfaces.

Both Olazo’s and Orlina’s works seem lighted from within, thus their strong spiritual resonances. Painting and sculpture summon an inner effulgence as if in response to the Biblical command, “Let there be light.” Their show is a glowing optical experience.